Patriot League Notebook
Finals Week Slowdown
As any college-age student can tell you, the final weeks of the semester are not an easy time to get through. Between finals, end-of-the-semester papers and packing for home, it’s not an easy time to concentrate on playing basketball. Of course, basketball players don’t get the luxury of the long winter vacation – they spend their time on campus, on the court. Because of the finals crunch, however, the action in the scholarly Patriot League was slowed greatly during the last week, with five of the eight league teams playing only one game and one team playing two. Therefore, between the lack of games and my own hectic finals week experiences, excuse me for the small size of this week’s league notebook.
American Garners One AP Top 25 Vote
American, the one Patriot League team that did not play a game in the last week, received one vote in the last Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Eagles, which currently sit at 5-2 on the young season, received the league’s first vote in the AP poll since the early stages of last season, when Lafayette jumped out to a great start and took home a few AP votes. The Eagles were led last week by senior guard Jason Thomas, who scored 52 points in two games on his way to his second consecutive Patriot League Player of the Week award. I’ll go a different route with my own award this week, however.
Weekly Awards
Player of the Week
Andrew Zidar, Colgate: The senior forward scored a career-high 28 points in Colgate’s high-scoring victory over Hobart. In a game without much defense, Zidar topped the scoring charts and also corralled six rebounds in helping Colgate snap a three-game losing streak.
Rookie of the Week
Bilal Abdullah, Lafayette: Abdullah was one assist shy of a triple-double in the Leopards’ win over Cal State-Northridge, scoring 21 points and adding 10 rebounds and nine assists. The guard from Anchorage, Alaska, scored 12 of his points from the free throw line, going 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.
Team Recaps
American Eagles (5-2)
As mentioned above, the Eagles were one of two teams in the Patriot League that did not have a game scheduled last week. The team currently sits in the midst of a five-game winning streak, with its last win coming last Saturday against Ohio University. The streak has coincided with the great play of Jason Thomas, who has matched or set his career high in points in each of his last three games. The team’s winning streak will be put to the ultimate test on Thursday, however, when the Eagles travel to College Park, Md., to take on the Maryland Terrapins. That game will be a true test of the strength of this Eagle team.
Bucknell Bison (6-4)
The 11-day finals break didn’t hinder the progress of the Bucknell Bison, who have now won three consecutive games after a 59-44 win over Cornell on Saturday. The first half was very evenly matched within the stat sheet: even in field goals, three-pointers, free throws and, most importantly, points. But after halftime, the Bison began to stampede and outscored the Big Red, 33-18, to take control of the game. The game was still in doubt with 11:41 left, however, as the Bison held a tenuous 38-36 lead. But Bucknell held Cornell to two field goals over the final 11 minutes, outscoring the Big Red by 13 points to secure the win. Bucknell shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, while the Big Red hit only 25 percent of its second-half shots. Chris McNaughton led the visiting Bison with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Charles Lee added 14 points, eight boards and five assists.
The Bison have only one game this week as well, a Wednesday evening home game against Niagara.
Holy Cross Crusaders (4-3)
The Crusaders, who left last week in second place in the Patriot League, dropped to third place without even playing a game. Holy Cross is in the middle of a tough stretch, having lost three of its last four games – but none of those losses were to mediocre teams; rather, the Crusaders lost to Minnesota, Princeton and Boston College. The Crusaders are already showing the great depth that they possess, as the team has had four different leading scorers in their seven games. Despite the depth, Kevin Hamilton is the unquestioned leader on the offensive end, averaging over 14 points per game so far this season. After 11 days in between games, the team will return to action against Ivy League foe Brown on Tuesday in Providence.
Lehigh Mountain Hawks (4-5)
The Mountain Hawks were the only Patriot League team to play more than once last week, splitting its two games against Eastern and Harvard. On Wednesday against Eastern, Lehigh came out smoking and never allowed the Eagles to take a lead. Thanks to 67 percent shooting, combined with the Eagles’ 3-for-22 (14 percent) shooting clip, the home team raced out to a huge 48-10 halftime lead. The big advantage allowed the Hawks to coast through the second half and give some game time to the bench players, with no Mountain Hawk player registering more than 22 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Jose Olivero led the game with 14 points in 21 minutes and 11 of 12 Lehigh players made at least one field goal in the rout.
After the easy win, however, the team fell to 0-4 on the road in a 67-56 loss to Harvard. The Mountain Hawks’ lackadaisical road efforts continued against the Crimson, as the visitors fell behind by as many as 10 in the opening half and couldn’t sustain any offensive rhythm in the second half. After the visitors took a 42-41 lead with 9:46 to go, Harvard used a 13-0 run to take the lead for good. Four Lehigh players scored in double figures, three with 11 points, but the Crimson also put four players over the 13-point barrier. One bright spot for Lehigh was Michael Fischman, who took down eight rebounds in 25 minutes. If Fischman can only improve on his offensive game, he could be a valuable paint presence for head coach Billy Taylor.
Lehigh’s next attempt at its first road win of the season will be a very tough one, as the Mountain Hawks travel to Cincinnati to take on Xavier, a team which made it to the Elite Eight last season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Colgate Raiders (3-5)
The Raiders took out their finals-week frustrations on visiting Hobart on Saturday afternoon, snapping a three-game losing streak with a 101-85 victory. In beating the Statesmen for the 18th consecutive time, Colgate was led by senior forward Andrew Zidar and junior guard Alvin Reed. Zidar notched a career-high 28 points and Reed added a season-best 24 points, including five three-pointers. As evidenced by the score, both teams shot the ball at 50 percent or better for the game, but the Raiders’ 20 first-half field goals gave them a 52-37 halftime lead that shrunk to as little as three with 11:33 to play in the game. Colgate managed to stay even with Hobart in the second half, however, and left Cotterell Court with a victory.
The team’s only game next week is a Tuesday evening home contest with Loyola Marymount, a team which defeated Colgate, 78-54, last season in California.
Navy Midshipmen (3-6)
The Midshipmen extended their losing streak to four games on Saturday against Gettysburg, falling at home by a score of 75-69. The Middies held the lead for most of the game, holding a lead as large as 15 with 11:07 left to go in the contest. But Division III Gettysburg did not concede defeat, rebounding with a 17-0 run that temporarily gave them a lead. For the next few minutes, the lead switched back and forth between the two teams, with neither squad being able to shake the other. Navy hit only three field goals in the final 3:34 of play, however, allowing the Bullets to escape Annapolis with their first win over Navy in the team’s last 12 tries. Laramie Mergerson led four Midshipmen in double figures with 16 points, while Corey Johnson added 12 points and nine rebounds in a game-high 37 minutes of play.
The team has one more game before the holiday break, when it travels to Emmitsburg, Md., to take on Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday night.
Lafayette Leopards (2-6)
Bilal Abdullah led a very balanced offensive attack that saw six Leopards reach double figures in the team’s 95-89 overtime win over Cal State-Northridge. Abdullah led the team with 21 points, while he and Jamaal Douglas both hauled in 10 rebounds as both teams attacked the boards throughout the game. The first half was very tight, but Lafayette appeared to pull away midway through the second half, taking a 16-point lead with 8:59 left and leading by 12 with 3:22 remaining. The Matadors then went on a 17-5 run to tie the game at the end of regulation, but Abdullah hit six free throws in the extra session and Jamaal Hilliard added eight of his 15 points in the extra five minutes to seal the win for the Leopards. Remarkably, Lafayette won the game despite taking a staggering 28 fewer shots than the Matadors, who launched the shots early and often.
The team’s final game before the holiday break comes on Wednesday, a 7 p.m. home contest against Moravian.
Army Black Knights (2-7)
In the most high profile game of the week involving a PL team, the Black Knights surprised the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame early but eventually succumbed to the nationally-ranked Irish, 71-52. Army jumped out to a quick 21-5 lead in the opening nine minutes, thanks to hitting 8-of-10 shots, but the team soon returned to form. The Black Knights shot just 31 percent from the field from that point on, allowing Notre Dame to tie the game headed into halftime and take the lead for good early in the second half. Army actually churned out a higher shooting percentage than Notre Dame for the game, but Army’s 19 turnovers allowed them fewer opportunities to put the ball in the net. Colin Harris led the Black Knights with 10 points and center Jimmy Sewell has a solid outing with seven points and 11 rebounds, despite the bigger Irish outrebounding Army by 19.
After the encouraging loss, the Black Knights have 10 days off before their final game of 2004, when they travel to take on Farleigh Dickinson on December 30.
